The Allahabad High Court on Friday provided relief from arrest to a Muslim labourer who along with his brother was booked in Muzaffarnagar for allegedly using coercion and allurement to convert the wife of a Hindu contractor after forging an illicit relationship with her.
The court stayed the arrest of Nadeem, who was booked under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020. No coercive action be taken against the petitioner till the next date of hearing on January 7, the court said.
“Present is a case where all the allegations are prima facie based on suspicion. Matter requires consideration,” observed a Division Bench of Justices Pankaj Naqvi and Vivek Agarwal. “There is no material before us that any force or coercive process is being adopted by the petitioner to convert wife of the informant,” the court said.
Mr. Nadeem had filed a criminal writ petition — perhaps the first case where the accused approached the HC for relief against the new ordinance — seeking the quashing of the FIR.
The two Muslim brothers were on November 29, two days after the new ordinance was promulgated, booked for allegedly trying to force a married Hindu woman to marry him for converting her to his religion. In his complaint at the Mansoorpur Police Station in Muzaffarnagar, Akshay Kumar Tyagi, who works in a prominent pharmaceutical company as a labour contractor in Haridwar, where he had been living for five years with his wife Parul and two kids, alleged that one Nadeem, had “trapped” her in a “net of love” with the aim of converting her.
Mr. Nadeem, 32, a resident of Bhagwanpur in Haridwar, is a labourer, and used to frequent their house leading to his friendship with Ms. Parul, said Mr. Akshay in his complaint.
With allurement and coercion, Mr. Nadeem wanted to marry Ms. Parul for conversion, alleged Mr. Akshay, mentioning that Mr. Nadeem had gifted his wife an Oppo F15 mobile phone which she used to secretly communicate with him. Mr. Nadeem’s brother Salman was also booked for allegedly helping him in the “conspiracy”. The two were also booked for criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy.
The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the FIR was based on mere suspicion and there was no material to substantiate the contentions raised in the FIR.
The victim is admittedly an adult who understands her well-being, the court said. “She as well as the petitioner have a fundamental right to privacy and being grown up adults who are aware of the consequences of their alleged relationship,” the court noted while providing relief to the accused petitioners.
Article 25 provides that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of Part-III of the Constitution, the judges said.
In his petition, Nadeem submitted that he had no connection with Mr. Tyagi or his wife and alleged that Mr. Tyagi had “mischievously” lodged a case against him to avoid paying ₹9,000 he owed him as dues for his services.
The court issued notice to the husband of the woman and said all respondents, including Chief Secretary of U.P. and Senior Superintendent of Police-Muzaffarnagar, file their counter affidavits within two weeks.
The court clubbed the case for hearing on January 7, together with a PIL that has challenged the constitutional validity of the ordinance.
